5G continues to make news as five Thai operators submit bids for spectrum and a Polish operator claims it is ready to commercialise 5G.
According to recent reports from press in the region, no fewer than five Thai companies – Advanced Info Services (AIS), True Corp, Total Access Communication (DTAC), TOT and CATTelecom – have submitted bidding documents for participation in the country’s 16 February 5G spectrum auction.
The regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), plans to tender 2×15MHz in the 700MHz band, 2×35MHz in the 1800MHz band, 2×190MHz in the 2600MHz band and 2700MHz in 26GHz. Submissions have been made in most bands but the 1800MHz range has reportedly been ignored. Qualified bidders and their spectrum bids will be announced on 12 February.
Somewhat ahead of the game in 5G terms is Polish operator Play. After last month’s pilot 5G 2100MHz network launch across Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot it now plans to switch on a total of 500 5G base stations across 16 cities by the end of February. This will include the five biggest cities, Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Gdynia, and eleven smaller cities.
The company’s announcement suggests that, after intensive development of 5G infrastructure and experience gathered in pilots, “we are ready to commercialise 5G”. What form this will take is as yet unclear as the company says it will be offering Polish consumers 5G technology before major phone manufacturers launch their first 5G devices on the market. It is also hoping to add a block of 3.5GHz to its spectrum when that frequency auction takes place.
